US talks with hardline Venezuelan minister Cabello began months before raid
Officials in President Donald Trump’s administration were in quiet contact with Venezuela’s hardline interior minister Diosdado Cabello months before the US raid that seized President Nicolas Maduro on January 3, and those communications have continued since. Multiple sources say the talks were aimed at preventing further instability and focused on urging the 62‑year‑old power broker not to deploy security forces or ruling‑party militias against opposition supporters. Cabello controls key elements of Venezuela’s security apparatus, including intelligence services, police and parts of the armed forces, which have largely remained intact after Maduro’s removal. He is named in the same US drug‑trafficking indictment used to justify Maduro’s arrest, yet he was not detained in the operation, and discussions with Washington have also touched on sanctions and the criminal charges he faces. US officials see Cabello’s stance as critical to the survival of […]